Mission Calls
Title: Missionary Calls
Photos of missionaries opening their mission calls. Photos should be intimate and focused on the missionary opening the call in a reverent, personal setting. (i.e. not a big production)
Due: Aug 13th

How to Tell if You’re A Troll

I got thinking about a specific person I blocked on Facebook. A former co-worker, I blocked him because he was trolling me. But, I don’t think he realizes he was behaving like a troll.

A troll is a person who targets another person on social media or online forums. They follow the person and wait for that person to post something they can either discredit, argue, insult, or somehow negatively respond. (You can read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll )

This has prompted me to ponder this, and I thought I would spell it out. I title this, “How to Tell if You’re a Troll”.

You follow or subscribe to the target’s page (now, this in itself isn’t bad). Your sole reason in doing so is to find something to disagree about.

You have never posted anything positive to the target’s page. All your posts have been negative. You’ve never left the target a positive comment or agreed with anything they’ve posted.

When you engage your target, your main purpose is to prove them wrong, embarrass them, or show your superiority. (i.e. you’re a bully)

You find doing this amusing.

After reading this list, you rationalize your reason for doing the above because you don’t see yourself as a troll, but an Internet savior, saving the world from this person’s stupidity. (i.e. you’re a sociopath.) A troll’s common response to something like this would be to deflect (i.e. try making a joke like, “Are you calling me a troll”, or argue.

How to Tell if You’re Troll-bait

My dear departed friend Enrico used to say, “If you want people to hate you, become successful.”

There’s a lot of sad, ironic truth to that. It’s more than being successful that attracts the trolls. It’s being moral that attracts them too. I guess what I’m saying is, if you’re troll-bait, it’s a good thing. Just ignore the trolls, or block them if you will, but whatever you do, don’t feed the trolls.

On to More Cheerful Things

I saw our beautiful peonies in bloom. I grabbed the camera.

Peony

Peony

And, while I am at it I might as well photograph some of the other flowers too.